


The Multiverse Is Just Awesome

by apatternedfever



Category: Firefly, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: AUs everywhere, Academy aged River, Gen, Shared Universe, make up your own multiversal meeting space, strange multiversal friendships with no explanation, teenaged Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 18:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apatternedfever/pseuds/apatternedfever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two young teens, a lot of technology, and a world yet to be discovered. <i>She gives him gifts; he makes her things.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Multiverse Is Just Awesome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lostinthefire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinthefire/gifts).



> Written for the prompt "there's magic in science". The suggested soundtrack for this ficlet is "Boom-De-Yada".
> 
> Technically, this takes place in an alternate universe where Tony's parents died when he was still in single-digits, Steve's plane never went down, and Steve and Peggy raised Tony as their own. None of this really makes an impact on the story, though.

She gives him gifts; he makes her things. Sometimes it's reversed, that's not unheard of -- River is no inventor, but there's little that she can't do when she puts her mind to it, and Tony finds out quickly that the little trinkets he brings her from Earth will always make her smile, for virtue of where they're from, and for being from him. But generally that's how it work. River finds interesting bits of technological advancement beyond what Tony knows from his time period. Tony uses that, and some of the things he's more familiar with, to make her things he thinks she'll like.

They sit quietly, side by side, him tinkering and her reading, for hours. They sit talking, explaining things to each other, posing questions neither one can answer, just enjoying being understood, for even longer. They fit like jigsaw puzzle pieces, playing devil's advocate against each other, helping each other find the words.

She shows him new things and challenges him to figure out how they work with her kindest smile, and he makes her things so lovely in their simple, functional elegence it takes her breath away.

And they don't understand everything, for all the brainpower between the two of them, but that's part of the beauty. The world, wolds, unfold in front of them, and more than 500 years later on, they still haven't figured it all out. The world keeps finding something new to throw their way, a new way to challenge them, something for the scientists of the future to play with. And that's lovely, and frustrating, and absolutely perfect.

Because they're more than happy to rise up to the challenge, with their little gifts and idle questions, and if they can't succeed now, they have plenty of time ahead of them to fix that.


End file.
